The Starr of this east side KC gym motivates, empowers women to ‘do something’
Editor’s note: During the month of March, in honor of Women’s History Month, The Star will feature glimpses of daily life of women who make up part of the thread of Kansas City.
Tonille Williams has 45 minutes.
It’s 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday. She’ll spend the next 2,700 seconds inspiring the six women in her gym. The gym she erected after gutting the inside of a home on Kansas City’s east side.
She watches each woman’s movements — every bend in the knee, the alignment of elbows bearing the weight of dumbbells in each hand. She pauses to help one woman, Molly, as she keeps her knees from veering over her toes.
They call her Starr. She is the focal point of the room. All of the women orbit around her energy and take their cues from her. Her energy feeds into them, empowering and motivating them.
20 minutes.
She claps to the beat in her camo ball cap, gray leggings and a cropped T-shirt.
The phrase “I can’t” does not exist within the walls of Starr Luvly Bodies. Utter “I can’t” and they’re on their feet. Eulise, another woman in the class, apologizes, hands in the air. They’re rewarded with a squat hold, hands clasped, thighs burning. One minute passes. “Release.” A sigh of relief echoes throughout the gym.
Here, in Starr’s house, they say: “Get your ass up and do something.” She even wrote a song about it. It’s a slogan the other women repeat in their minds after class. It pushes them to keep going everyday.
Five minutes.
“Here we go,” she says. She steps to her right and they mirror. All the women follow her cue. To the left.
Even her mother is in the class, following her daughter.
Starr rests one hand on her mother’s left shoulder while they move from left to right. They alternate raising their knees to meet each hand — two on each side — and punch the air and twerk to the beat.
Time is up, but no one leaves just yet.
Women hang around, smiling, chatting, practicing their footwork. Another tells Starr about her fitness goals.
She’ll make the time to help her get it done.
45 minutes at a time.
